The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 62, July 1958 - April, 1959 Page: 46
This periodical is part of the collection entitled: Southwestern Historical Quarterly and was provided to The Portal to Texas History by the Texas State Historical Association.
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
Southwestern Historical Quarterly
expenses for the missions to the Rano de Guerra or War Fund.4
For religious as well as political reasons the missions were to
civilize the Indians. In this respect, Carlos Castafieda wrote,
"They were in reality the first vocational schools, the first agri-
cultural experimental stations, the first industrial centers, the first
self-government units, the first health and recreation centers, in
a word the first and only civilizing agency for the native races
in Texas."6
Historians and officials have employed various terms to describe
the civilizing task: to "domesticate," to teach "discipline," "good
manners," "habits and customs of civilized life," and to become
an "industrial and agricultural school" or a "school of life."6
The Texas missions were, or tried to be, all of these.
The most characteristic feature of the civilizing plan and of
temporal life in the missions was work or industry. The emphasis
upon work in the mission plan would suggest that it was the
basic element of civilization. Perhaps here was an early pro-
nouncement of the glories of labor, a philosophy which seemed
to permeate the frontier in later centuries. Beside the theoretical
need to discipline the Indian in work, here was the practical need
to feed and clothe him while he learned about civilization. As the
missions were largely isolated communities, they had to be some-
what self-supporting. The missionaries, therefore, taught the In-
dians arts and crafts and the cultivation of the soil.
In Mexico and New Mexico, Indians were congregated in their
own villages or pueblos where they lived a sedentary, semi-agri-
cultural life. The missionaries merely moved in and started to
preach. Texas Indians, on the other hand, were generally war-
like nomads of a lower cultural level. In order to learn the chores
4Frank W. Blackmar, Spanish Institutions of the Southwest (Baltimore, 1891),
23; Herbert E. Bolton, Texas in the Middle Eighteenth Century (Berkeley, 1915),
io; Bolton, "Mission as a Frontier Institution," American Historical Review, XXIII,
51; Carlos E. Castafieda, Our Catholic Heritage in Texas, 1519-1936 (6 vols.; Austin,
1936-1950), III, 27.
6Carlos E. Castafieda, "The Sons of St. Francis in Texas," The Americas, I, 291.
6Henderson Yoakum, The History of Texas from Its First Settlement in 1685 to Its
Annexation to the United States in 1846 (2 vols.; New York, 1855), I, 55; Bolton,
"Mission as a Frontier Institution," American Historical Review, XXIII, 53; Papal
Bull of Alexander VI, in George P. Garrison, Texas: A Contest of Civilization (Bos-
ton, 1903), 55; Bolton, Texas in the Middle Eighteenth Century, lo; Castafieda,
"Sons of St. Francis in Texas," The Americas, III, 296.
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This issue can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Periodical.
Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 62, July 1958 - April, 1959, periodical, 1959; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101173/m1/64/: accessed April 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.